SDGQ President Philippe Lamarre and the SDGQ Board, at the announcement of the DGA

DGA, the new three meaningful letters in graphic design.

There are many very talented graphic designers in Québec who can be top-ranked by international standards. It is important to the Société des designers du Québec (SDGQ) that its member designers receive recognition in the business world and from general public arenas. Because anyone, even those without education and professional experience, can claim to be a graphic designer, the SDGQ has created the title Designer graphique agréé (DGA), and established standards and rules, so that designers can be certified. This will ensure that DGA graphic designers will provide quality workmanship and be recognized as certified professionals in their field.

Designing requires creativity and skills: strategy, typography, color management, photographic retouching, understanding the latest web script, and much more. All of theses must be nailed down to focus on communication. Graphic designers have the responsibility to deliver a message and to bring relevancy and power to images.

Because there were no previous guidelines of quality for graphic designers in Québec, the SDGQ first established recognizable criteria of excellence. Secondly, the SDGQ set up a judging process to allow committees of fellow designers to review work, analyze technique and examine the communication skills of the candidates. Applicants for DGA need to meet specific requirements for education, professional design experience, quality of work and membership in the SDGQ.

The field of graphic design work has grown wide. Graphic design is everywhere. It is the center point for almost every interface, working to make communication effective. With this new accreditation program, teamed by our collaborations with fellow associations, and all our side work, the SDGQ hopes to the public will now recognize and choose a certified graphic designer. The SDGQ wants clients to understand that working with a certified designer will assure high quality design and optimized value.

The SDGQ invites all graphic designers in Québec to enter our first round of applicants for the DGA title scheduled this fall.

Go www.sdgq.ca to download the official application form.

Thank you to Marc Serre, Directeur – Société des designers graphiques du Québec, for this article.